Actuator for zippers and pouch embodying the same



L. POST April 23, 1957 ACTUATOR FOR ZIPPERS AND POUCH EMBODYING THE SAME Original Filed March 14, 1952 I ll I I ZZTVEZ'ifET" Lou/s I005?" fig V United States Patent ACTUATOR FOR ZIPPERS AND POUCH EMBODYING THE SAME Louis Post, Bronx, N. Y., assignor to Flexigrip, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application March 14, 1952, Serial No. 276,475, now Patent No. 2,772,712, dated December 4, 1956. Divided and this application July 9, 1956, Serial No. 600,361

3 Claims. (Cl. 150-3) This application is a division of application, Serial No. 276,475, filed March 14, 1952, which has matured into Patent No. 2,772,712, issued December 4, 1956.

This invention relates to actuators for plastic separable fasteners and to articles embodying the same.

My invention concerns itself with improvements in separable fasteners of the type generally described in United States Patent No. 2,55 8,367. As there described, the fastener comprises a pair of flexible strips of resilient material, each strip having a plane portion and an integral reinforced edge portion, the edge portions being of corresponding cross section but reversed when in overlapping relation, each edge portion having a continuous solid ridge and a continuous groove arranged longitudinally of the edge portion and at substantially right angles to the planes of the plane portions, each of the ridges having an enlarged head portion and a constricted neck portion and each of the grooves having a restricted opening and an enlarged bottom portion with the groove in one of the reinforcements being aligned with and corresponding in cross-section to the ridge in the other of said reinforcements and vice versa.

Where such continuous separable fasteners with interengaging reinforced edges are made into containers of large dimensions, such as pillow slips, garment bags, and the like, the relative slidability of the interlocking ridges and grooves leads to displacement, rendering the interlocking connection inoperative under some conditions.

It is therefore an important object of my invention to provide a sliderless fastener structure of the type shown in the aforesaid patent but with the ends of the cooperating strips closed by the interengagement of the ridges and grooves of the reinforced edge and by the integral uniting of such interengaging end portions to each other, as by heat sealing the same.

It is a further important object of this invention to provide an actuator in the form of an integral extension of one of the closure strips which may be manually pulled in a direction transverse to the longitudinally extending closure strips to effect a quick release of the one strip from the other and, thus, an opening of the closure.

A further important object of my invention is to provide low cost pouches or receptacles of flexible material in which overlapping closure strips, or stringers, having interlocking ridges and grooves serve as closures, and to provide therefor an actuator which operates at localized points to transversely release the interlocking elements, whereby heat scalable foils may be employed to form containers, receptacles, pouches and the like embodying such interlocking closure strips as closures therefor.

To attain these objects and such further objects as may appear herein or may hereafter be pointed out, reference is made to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a pouch made in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line IIII of Figure l;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view similar to Figure 2 but showing the closure strips separated by manipulation of the actuator; and

Figure 4 is a perspective fragmentary view of a modification of my invention.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally a receptacle, which is preferably made of a heat-scalable foil, such as flexible Vinylite sheeting, polyethylene sheeting, or other heat-sealable material. A sheet of this material is formed with a fold at the edge 11 and is heat sealed along the side edges 12 and 13 to position the longitudinally extending edges 14 and 15 in spaced apart relation to provide a gap therebetween, the edge 14 being on the front wall and the edge 15 on the back wall of the pouch. To the edges 14 and 15 are then heat sealed plastic closure strips, or stringers, 16 and 17, which are formed with plane portions 16a and 17a and with reinforced edge portions 16b and 17b, respectively. Said reinforced edges 16b and 17b, in accordance with the aforesaid United States patent, are provided with interlocking or interengaging continuously extending longitudinal grooves 20a and 21a and solid ridges 20b and 21b, respectively. Each of said ridges 20b and 21b has an enlarged head portion and a constricted neck portion, and each of said grooves 20a and 21a has a restricted opening and an enlarged bottom portion. With the closure strips in confronting relation as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each groove in one of the reinforced edge portions is aligned with the corresponding ridge in the other of said reinforced edge portions, and the groove in one of the reinforced edge portions corresponds in cross-section to the corresponding ridge in the other of said reinforced edges, and vice versa. so that the same may be interlocked when pressed into closed relationship, as in Fig. 2.

The terminal edges of the closure strips 16 and 17, while the corresponding ridges and grooves are in interengaging relationship, are heat sealed at the sides 22 and 23 of the rear wall 24 of the pouch so that access to the pouch is through the slit provided by the interlocking reinforced edges 16b and 17b. The corresponding ends of said reinforced edges 16b and 1712 are thus mated and united integrally with each other and at the same time the edges of the web portions 16a and 17a are united with said front and back wall portions to complete the closure of the edges of the pouch about the entire marginal edge thereof.

In accordance with my present invention, an actuator is provided in the form of a flexible strip 25 which is welded, as at 26, as by heat-sealing, to the outer surface of the reinforced edge 16b. Said flexible strip 25 extends transversely of the interlocking closure strips to provide an upwardly projecting free end portion 28 which is gen erally parallel to and spaced from the other closure strip 17b and its web portion 17a. The projecting end 28 of the strip 25 may be gripped by the fingers, as illustrated in Figure 3, and by exerting a bodily pulling action transversely of the length of the closure strips, such strips may be locally disengaged. Such action provides enough of a gap to permit the finger of the user to be slid along the length of the interlocking edge channels to quickly open the pouch, if the force applied to the actuator 25 is not sufficient for that purpose.

In closing the interlocking reinforced edges, they are pressed to each other into engagement against some support or surface, with the rear wall 24 as a backing at all points.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 4, there are provided a plurality of flexible actuators 34, each having one end 35 welded, as by heat-sealing, to the outer surface of the front reinforced edge portion 160. Said reinforced edge portion is in all respects similar to 3 the reinforced "edge portion 16b and is adapted for eng'agement with a reinforced edge portion 17a similar "to the reinforced edge portion 17b.

The actuators 34 may, as in the case of the actuator 25, be a strip of Vin'ylite o'r -polyethylene sheeting, prefera bly of rather heavy stock. in the case of the actualtors 34, they may have molded adjacent the edge 36 a knob-line protrusion or ing 37. Into the web portio of the closure strip 170 may be molded a complemental socket 38 to provide a coupling in the nature of a snap fastener between the Plijfi'ilSlOn 37 and the 'SOCkelZ 33. The interlocking of the actuator 34 with the stringers 16c at 'a lurality "of points, as illustrated, not only serves to provide means for actuating the interlocking reinforced edg'e's, or closure strips, into disengaging relationship by a transversely applied bodily action but also serves to hold the interlocking closure strips against relative longitudinal sliding movement. In this manner relatively long lengths of stringers or closure strips 16c and 170 may be applied to any receptacle without danger of accidental disengagement by reason of a deflecting curvature occasioned by bending of the stringers.

By my invention, considerable economy is effected in that no slider is employed. No care need be exercised to thread the stringers in interlocking channels into a slider before completing the receptacle, garment or other device with which the interlocking reinforced edge type of fastener is assembled, thus avoiding the bulk as well as the cost of the longitudinal slider normally recommended for manipulating the interlocking edge channels into engaging or disengaging position.

Entire pro-assemblies of interlocking reinforced edge type fastener strips may be embodied into a device without stopping to pull apart the stringers to thread the slider, and heat Welding and sealing may be effected at the terminal edges of the fastener strips Without interference of any bulky actuator such as normally employed.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A pouch comprising a resilient sheet-like back wall, a resilient sheet-like front wall secured to the back wall along side and bottom edges to form a container open at the top, said back wall extending upwardly a short distance beyond the top of said front wall, a first closure strip on the top of said back Wall and extending down wardly therefrom, a second closure strip on the top of said front wall and extending upwardly therefrom to overlie said first strip, each strip having a plane portion and an integral reinforced edge portion, each reinforced edge portion having a continuous solid ridge and a continuous groove arranged longitudinally of the edge portion, the head portion of each ridge being enlarged and the neck portion of each ridge being constricted to form an adjacent complementary groove with a restricted opening thereinto and an enlarged body portion, the groove in one of said strips being aligned with and corresponding in shape to the ridge in the other of said strips and vice versa, corresponding ends of said reinforced edge portions being interen'gaged and being united to each other and to said front and back walls to define an opening into said container substantially the length thereof between said side edges, and Lin extension integral with and projecting from said second closure strip in spaced relation to said first closure strip to facilitate separation thereof.

2. A flexible fastener comprising a pair of closure strips each having a plane portion and an integral reinforced edge portion, each reinforced edge portion having a continuous solid ridge and a continuous groove arranged longitudinally of said edge portion, the head portion of each ridge being enlarged and the neck portion of each ridge being constricted to form an adjacent cornpl'emen'tary groove with a restricted opening thereinto and an enlarged body portion, the groove in one of said strips being aligned with and corresponding in shape to the ridge in the other of said strips and vice versa, cor

responding ends of said reinforced edge portions being interengaged and being united to each other to define an opening between said ends, and an extension integral with and projecting from one of said closure strips in spaced relation to the other of'said closure strips to facilitate separation thereof.

-3. A flexible fastener comprising a pair of closure strips each having a plane portion and an integral reinforced edge portion, each reinforced edge portion having a continuous solid ridge and a continuous groove arranged longitudinally of said edge portion, the head portion of each ridge being enlarged and the neck portion of each ridge being constricted to form an adjacent complementary groove with a restricted opening thereinto and an enlarged body portion, the groove in one of said strips being aligned with and corresponding in shape to the ridge in the other of said strips and vice versa, corresponding ends of said reinforced edge portions being interengaged and being united to each other to define an opening between said ends, and an extension integral with and projecting from one of said closure strips in spaced relation to the other of said closure strips to facilitate separation thereof, the projecting portion of said extension and the plane portion of the closure strip in spaced relation thereto having aligned complementary elements adapted to interlock with each other.

No references cited. 

